Board of Legislators of the Russian Federation at Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation

On May 30, 2012 in the Moscow region duma the first meeting of Board of Legislators of the Russian Federation at Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation took place.

Background of creation of council

The similar structures integrating deputies of regional Legislative Assemblies around the federal parliamentary center worked in the country and till this day. Only were called differently. In the Federation Council which is considered chamber of regions Council for interaction with legislative (representative) public authorities of the subjects of the Russian Federation was formed ten years ago - in May, 2002. And in December, 2008 the Assembly of the Russian legislators at the State Duma was founded. Tasks and that, and other consolidation were in principle same - to establish cooperation of legislative authorities of territorial subjects of the federation, to develop recommendations about the main directions of development of the legislation, to discuss the most significant drafts of federal laws and to analyze law-enforcement practice of already current laws. All these and other questions having important state value will be solved also by the Board of Legislators created at Federal Assembly.

As the speaker of the upper house Valentina Matviyenko reported, the president Vladimir Putin confirmed the intentions and desire to meet annually Board of Legislators. "I think that it and will be", - Matviyenko told, having emphasized at the same time that the questions of really presidential level requiring understanding of its position and assistance of the head of state in their solution should be a subject of such meetings.

Tasks of council

As declared on May 30, 2012, speaking at the first meeting of Council, the speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko, such Council is necessary for the organization of interaction of chambers of Federal Assembly, legislative (representative) authorities of regions in legislative process and also for exchange of experience of parliamentary activity. And therefore among functions of Board of Legislators there will be also a coordination of the federal and regional legislation. Of course, the volume of such work is incomparable with what regional parliaments had to execute at the beginning of the century when regional precepts of law quite often conflicted to federal. Now other adjustment is necessary - regions should bring the legislation into accord with federal under new laws. Matviyenko called as an example the law on elections of governors on which regional legislators should configure the legal acts.

The speaker of the State Duma Sergei Naryshkin considers that fight for quality of laws should become one of tasks of Council. "The first fundamental principle is a professionalism of both federal parliament, and regional legislature. For deputies it first of all quality of the law", - said, speaking at the first meeting of Council, the Duma head. "Irrespective of membership in a batch or fraction our common goal is adoption of effective qualitative laws", - it continued, having hoped that "The Board of Legislators of Russia will develop practice of preliminary consideration of regional bills". In quality they suffer so far. According to the speaker of the lower house of parliament, from those regional bills which were transferred to archive of the State Duma since the beginning of the current convocation almost every seventh was returned for fulfillment of requirements of the Constitution and regulations of the State Duma.

One of the main principles of interaction of both chambers of parliament within Board of Legislators Naryshkin called openness of parliament: "Voters should see a position of parliament clearly. But the openness is not only information on the work. It also openness to interaction, readiness to listen to society and to consider the arrived offers. It is necessary to verify constantly the position with opinion of society and its different social groups".

According to Sergei Naryshkin, it is necessary to develop new forms of participation of citizens in examination of bills and methods of promotion of public legislative initiatives. Besides, activity of Board of Legislators should take place in dialog with experts. "Detailed examination of legislative initiatives, beginning already with the concept of bills, high-quality analytical providing - all this will positively affect results of legislative process", - the speaker of the State Duma is sure.

"Legislature should be responsible for quality of the laws adopted by them. Each level - federal, regional, municipal - has the sphere of powers. All problems of citizens cannot be solved by one federal parliament and require the accurate balanced interaction", - Sergei Naryshkin believes. According to him, legislators at all levels are obliged to predict effects of adoption of bills still before they are accepted and will begin to act. Right there the speaker defined also two specific objectives which Council should solve, - legislative ensuring reforms of political system and decentralization of the power, development of local government.

"I think, from creation of the efficient mechanisms stimulating all political forces responsibly to approach selection of candidates for governors and gain of a role of local government, development of democracy at the regional level depends", - Naryshkin noted.

Representatives of regional parliaments at which as it became clear, questions to federal legislators collected got into an argument. One of problem - the bill of elections of governors, to be exact, restriction for the head of the region of an opportunity to direct the territory two terms.

Valentina Matviyenko, communicating then with journalists, called this question debatable, having noticed that "we - the federal state, and we should not do so that our federal legislation resembled the legislation of the unitary state more and more". "It is necessary to give to territorial subjects of the federation more freedom of legal regulation on places" based on federal laws "taking into account specifics of the territorial subject of the federation, national structure, features, traditions, level of economic and social development and so on"^[1].

Who is a part of Board of Legislators?

Are a part of Board of Legislators (August, 2012):

• Chairman of the Federation Council,
• the First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma (under approval),
• one of Deputy Chairmen of the Federation Council (according to the decision of Council of chamber),
• heads of legislative (representative) public authorities of territorial subjects of the Russian Federation. If in the territorial subject of the Russian Federation the legislative (representative) public authority consists of two chambers, then heads of both chambers participate in work of Board of Legislators.

Presidium of Council

Presidium of Board of Legislators of the Russian Federation for August, 2012:

• Matviyenko Valentina Ivanovna, Chairman of the Federation Council, cochairman of Board of Legislators of the Russian Federation

• Naryshkin Sergey Evgenyevich, Chairman of the State Duma, cochairman of Board of Legislators of the Russian Federation

• Torshin Alexander Porfiryevich, First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council, deputy cochairman of Board of Legislators of the Russian Federation

• Shvetsova Lyudmila Ivanovna, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma, deputy cochairman of Board of Legislators of the Russian Federation

• Grandmother's Lyudmila Valentinovna, Chairman of Legislative Assembly of Sverdlovsk region

• Beketov Vladimir Andreevich, Chairman of Legislative Assembly of Krasnodar Krai

• Varnavsky Vladimir Alekseyevich, Chairman of Legislative Assembly of the Omsk region

• Grachev Sergey Ivanovich, Chairman of Legislative Assembly of the Orenburg region

• Istikhovskaya Marina Dmitriyevna, Chairman of the State Council of the Komi Republic

• Magomedov Magomed-Sultan Baybolatovich, Chairman of People's Assembly of the Republic of Dagestan

• Rayenko Valery Fedorovich, Chairman of Legislative Assembly of Kamchatka Krai

Commissions of Council

The commission of Board of Legislators on development of information society (it is created in 2012).

Notes